Forgot to mention my beloved Luminition ignition decided to malfunction on the climb through the mountains starting at Barcolonette not allowing my HF to rev beyond 3500 rpm in any gear. Made for interesting driving of the uphill hairpins short shifting and using the 1600 torque. I doubt a 1300 could have been driven this way. It was quite "painful" on the engine changing up and powering the ascents on the low oil pressure that is developed at these low revs.

Luckily I carry a standard distributor which I fitted at the Col de Turini and timed ( and test run down and up the col before breakfast the following morning....).

4 gallant Fulvias made it into Torino and cleared Cavallitos shelves before going on to the Mirafiore Motor Village to see some special Fulvias only to find they werent there! We did however meet Dave and Denise Mirolo who were joining the rally for the day. Some diplomatically strong words were said to Fiat, and eventually Munari's Fulvia 24 arrived. We could then set off for the Langhe Wine Tour and finish off back at Mondovi Piazza for the Gala Dinner and spectacular fireworks.

Well............stayed on in Mondovi for an extra day. Good trip back over the Mont Cenis pass. Left Italy on the autostradas and meandered back on the French N roads. Brilliant trip - thanks to all those involved in organising it. Friendliest bunch of people you could hope to meet. Some things happened that weren't supposed to, some things that were supposed to happen didn't, some things didn't happen but we didn't know they were supposed to, so we didn't care and it all added up to a really good time. Felt lonely driving home without a few Fulvia wingmen (and women) though. I'll never forget the sound of FAY growling up the mountain passes - the most stately looking car sounded the sportiest by far!

What a great event that was. My best memory will be the sight of a red HF in front and a red 1.3S behind, blasting up the Col de Turini in the late afternoon sun. The sound of FAY's exhaust is still echoing around my head like a dozen angry Vespas and the view of it in the rear view mirror with Brian bent double over the steering wheel whilst trying to keep up the momentum will be a long enduring image. It seems the Col du Mont Cenis was visited by most of us on our return legs, albeit separately. Stan is right: it was good but not quite the same as being in the company of other Fulvias.

Thanks to everybody involved (what a great bunch of people) but particularly to Huib for setting it all up and Tim for his convoy leadership through France and Italy. We arrived home last night after 2400 miles and £660 in fuel receipts, minus the lower part of the front engine mount which I spotted bouncing away in the rear view mirror on the autoroute south of Dijon! It's probably still rolling north to Calais at 130 kph.

Sorry for the delay but I've finally got all my photos on to Flkr if you go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49840642@N06/sets/Then takes you to 'Sets', there are 3 sets, 1st set covers the Brit group from Dover to Beaune where we met up with most of the rest of those taking part, then the group from Beaune to the Col de Tende Tunnel and into Italy, 2nd set is to Mondovi and everything while we were there, the third set covers our journey home from Mondovi, taking in the Vercors Region of France, across to the Dordogne, then up to Belgium and home.Hope you enjoy them.

Where / why were you on the grass track?I looked up this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouga_CM.170_MagisterLoved the autocycle / trike ice cream seller.The Flavia Berlina is a rare sight - and that two tone interior rather lovely.Your highlights?David

David, Tims the best man to know where we were, but we were on the way from Beaune to Chambery, we suddenly turned off through a vineyard and got some peculiar looks from someone working in the vineyard and we wondered where the heck we were going, but we turned off before we got to him up a concrete path where after a few hundred yards there was a tractor across the concrete path, but again we turned off just before him, this then became the dirt track to a lovely viewpoint.The two of us in the Berlinas weren't worried about the ground clearance, but I think a few of the others were!The Ice cream trike was a real treat, as being into old moped/motorbikes it was beautifuly restored and unexpected,The Flavia Berlina belonged to Giovanni who was our Lancia man in Mondovi, he had arranged at lot of things for us while we were there including the 14 course blowout lunch, followed by the 8 course dinner in the evening, his flavia is in beautiful condition, as was the Flaminia PF that bleonged to a friend of Giovanni's who had joined us from Milan, the Appia was a local in Mondovi who went and brought his Appia out to show us.The whole trip was one big highlight, a particularly satisfying moment for me was as we were heading off from the Reims circuit where on a downhill stretch, I caught the three 1600 HF's out and passed them doing about 80mph with a big grin on my face made quite a change to be in front of them.

David, Brian is right - the whole thing was a highlight. Everything that happened was so different it's hard to compare, from winding around mountain roads with other Fulvias, to the church murals through all the lunches to the fireworks at the end was just great. Plus I achieved my ambition of taking my Fulvia back to Turin in my 20th year of ownership. If I was really pushed I'd say the people were the main highlight. They really made it. Whoever you found yourself sitting with you'd have a good time. If something had turned out to be a total disaster we would have had a laugh about it. Get your Flavia Z running and bring it next September. I haven't seen you since the paddock at Lydden! If you could make it I would advise you to stop eating around the end of July to make room for the food.

Brian - thanks for the photos. Really nice set. They fill in the gaps as driving on my own it would have been difficult to negotiate the hairpins and avoid the drops while balancing a heavy SLR on the steering wheel!

I'd love to do a trip like that...but next year is too much to ask... The Flavia Z would be perfect for it, and the day to day over speed humps, and motorway runs to family, and track days and rallies. My "progress" on that car is a bead roller for Christmas (useful for all the other projects I have as well as plenty of "friends and family" loan outs) and a brake servo out of my "black ops" fund.

The last time I did such a trip was just before I started work. It was in my first ever car, a very second hand Alfasud. That car made it to Rome but was scrapped a few miles north. We certainly got our money back on the AA five star cover with an Alfa 75 in Italy, some sort of Golf up to Prague and across to France , then an MG Metro back in the UK.

The Dedra Turbo went skiing a couple of times. One year we went to the Geneva motorshow as a day trip from wherever we were in the French alps.